Affordable Seattle living? (Bellevue, Shoreline, Renton: 2009, apartments, renting)

[Scio42]

Hi. I'm looking for some suggestions from Seattle locals who would best be in the know. Does anyone have any recommendations for the most affordable neighborhoods in the Seattle metro in decent areas? Basically I'm looking for neighborhoods where buying or renting would be reasonable (at least by Seattle metro standards), but still be in fairly nice and safe neighborhood. Being able to catch public transit from the neighborhood and would be a plus (as would nearby shopping/eating/social options).

Thanks in advance!

[Ira500]

There are very few areas within Seattle proper that are affordable, safe, and nice.
But parts of Lake City fit that bill, and in the south end parts of Upper Rainier Beach fit that bill.
Outside of Seattle proper, in the north consider Shoreline and Lake Forest Park.
The south end is the most affordable, but also contains some areas that should be avoided.
But parts of Renton are nice including Kennydale, Fairwood, the east Renton highlands, and the area just west of downtown Renton that includes Bryn Mawr, Lakeridge, and Earlington.
Parts of Burien are quite nice, and old downtown Burien is very pedestrian friendly and full of cool shops and restaurants. Downtown Renton also has great public transit to both Seattle and Bellevue, and has quite a few great hangout spots, including some great espresso places,sushi places, good Italian restaurants, and great places for beer.
There is a certain longstanding anti south end sentiment. Don't believe it. Go to these places and check them out before you take some strangers word for it.

[Heiwos]

Renting a room in a house is a good way to cut costs. Usually a lot better deal than an apartment, in exchange for some loss of privacy.

[MichaelinWA]

Pretty nice writeup in the paper this weekend:

Downtown Renton | Seattle Times Newspaper

Some of the newer apartments are relatively reasonable.

Originally Posted by Ira500

downtown Renton

[baboo]

Affordable Seattle living is an oxymoron at this point. The cost of living here is ridiculous and the definition of affordable has severely been skewed. Keeping that in mind, if we are talking about "affordable" living relative to Seattle standards then here are some neighborhoods that I would look into:

Beacon Hill: It was once a dodgy area, but now it's an up and coming neighborhood. It has nice restaurants and bars, it's close to some really interesting areas. The housing there is still relatively low and soon the lightrail will be running which will take you to downtown in about 15 minutes.

Georgetown: Again, right next to Beacon hill, so same deal.

West Seattle: The prices in WSeattle are rising quickly, but it's a really nice area with tons of restaurants, top-notch bakeries, bars, and shopping. It's not connected very well with the rest of the city, you would need a car.

Wedgewood: is more family-oriented housing. It's a safe neighborhood and it's close to the university of washington.

Greenwood: here we're kind of almost out of the city limits but it's also another up and coming type of place. There has been extensive development over the last few years, so there are a lot of new apartments and houses and still relatively affordable. But it's becoming more and more expensive.

Ballard: So here you have to be careful. Certain parts of ballard are still affordable and nice, but other parts are outlandishly overpriced.

First hill: So not the safest of the safe, but certain parts of First Hill are still affordable. Most of it is insanely expensive. It is close to the hospitals, Seattle University, downtown, capital hill, and the international district. Actually, it's within walking distance from all those places. There are a lot of immigrants in first hill and a fair amount of crime still. Plus, you'll have to do a lot of searching because it can get really pricey because of its prime location.

Roosevelt area: Not too bad. It's kind of in a weird spot in the city though.

Places I would avoid: Central District, International District (big time), Burien (not in the city), Renton (not in the city), Capital Hill (really pricey, but fun), Fremont (expensive, but fun), University District (it's filthy), Queen Anne (expensive), Belltown (expensive, fun, and dangerous), Downtown (expensive), Greenlake (expensive and too many people), Lake City (dirty and dangerous), Northgate/Shoreline (depressing)

hope this helped

[Tiger Beer]

Is it compareable to California cities?

[texastrigirl]

All depends on your tastes of what constitutes affordable, safe and nice. My father in law rents a room in a house in Queen Anne (great area of Seattle, relatively safe for city living) for $500 (affordable to him). It's a small room but he's used to living on a sailboat so it feels okay to him. Can you give people some idea of your price range and tastes?